Kids' Eye View

I do try to see the world through the eyes of my children - if only to stop getting annoyed when they do things that slow me down. I forget that they are sometimes seeing things for the first time.

Over the fourth of July weekend, we went to the local fireworks display and met up with some friends and their 3 year old and 3 month old. We sat on blankets on the ground in the dark with hundreds of other people. My 4 year old daughter, who was afraid of fireworks last year, had such a great time. She sat in her dad's lap, sometimes covering her ears but watching each explosion intently - with her mouth hanging open. It was fun to watch her. She told me that the fireworks looked like dandelions and I really got what she meant - right when the dandelions go to seed and haven't lost any of their florets they really do resemble fireworks.

Meanwhile, my 16 month old, who is newly walking, didn't pay attention to the fireworks at all. She just wanted to walk around on the blanket and would have preferred to be allowed to walk all around the grounds in the dark where the hundreds of strangers were - every parent's nightmare. But, I managed to corral her and she stayed wide awake through the fireworks.

Our friends' three year old spent the entire show hiding under one or both of his parents. He was terrified of the noise and wouldn't watch the display at all but after the last firework faded and it was clear there would be no more, he jumped up and announced, "That was awesome!" Who knew?